A Life Managed for the Master

Introduction

The Office is a mockumentary-style TV show with such as actors as Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson and John Krasinkski to name a few. The show humorously depicts the daily operations of Dunder Mifflin, a mid-sized paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The series follows the lives of the office employees, who are often caught up in mundane and unproductive tasks rather than meaningful work. The regional manager, Michael Scott, is notorious for his inappropriate behavior and lack of focus on actual business matters. Instead of leading effectively, he spends much of his time organizing pointless meetings, hosting awkward office parties, and coming up with misguided ideas that rarely contribute to the company's productivity.

The rest of the staff, including characters like Jim, Pam, and Dwight, are often shown engaging in office pranks, gossiping, or struggling with the monotony of their jobs. For example, Jim spends a significant amount of time devising elaborate pranks on his coworker Dwight, highlighting the boredom and lack of engagement in their daily tasks. The sales team often appears to be more interested in personal drama than in actually selling paper, and the HR department’s attempts to maintain professionalism are frequently undermined by the chaotic office environment.

Overall, The Office satirizes the inefficiencies and absurdities of corporate life, showcasing how an office can sometimes become a place of wasted time and effort rather than productivity and accomplishment. The show paints a picture of a workplace where the job responsibilities are often unimportant or entirely disregarded, leading to an environment filled with humorous, yet unproductive, antics.

What I wanted you to key in is a work climate of a wastefulness and lack of productivity.

Jesus is nearing His time of departure from the disciples and He is using every occasion to disciple the apostles. There is a common thread of teaching with numerous parables that reminds the disciples they are stewards, they are managers, they are to oversee the affairs of this life that Jesus has left for them to oversee in fulfilling the mission Jesus had set out for them.

A great teaching or doctrinal understanding we need to come to as Christians is the fact that we are not to take ownership of our lives for our selfish interest, but to understand we were created, we were saved and redeemed to fulfill His purposes in this life.

1 Corinthians 6:20 “20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

1 Corinthians 7:23 “23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.”

Jesus constantly in His word reminds us through various parables that we are stewards of this life for His sake and not our own.

Pastor Rick Warren is Pastor Emeritus of Saddleback Church. Even though the SBC voted down Saddleback’s membership into the SBC over the issue of female pastors, I still have great respect and admiration for Dr. Rick Warren. Rick Warren wrote the book, The Purpose Driven Life that has sold over 50,000,000 copies in 137 languages.

He makes this statement:

"Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more."

"You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense."

Pastor & Author Tim Keller writes:

“Life is a gift, not a right. That means we’re not owed a thing, but everything we have is a blessing.”

Interesting thoughts about this life the Lord has given us. How we manage it is important to Jesus.

Jesus time and again teaches the concept of stewardship, the management of not just resources, but the very life we have been given.

Luke 16:1-8

Luke 16:1–8 NKJV

1 He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. 2 So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ 3 “Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’ 5 “So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.

Prayer

Message

Jesus spent three and one half years with His disciples. Time and again and in different manners, Jesus reinforced in many creative ways teaching the concept of stewardship. Last Sunday, you will remember that Jesus told the parable of the Prodigal Son. In those first verses Jesus shared the story of the prodigal in similar fashion to our story today.

Luke 15:13 “13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.” We will reflect on a similar wastefulness in just a moment as we drill down into this parable. Now, let me say at the onset that this parable has been one of the most misinterpreted parables Jesus provides. On the surface, we see the the rich man commending the steward for wrongful actions. Let’s delve into this parable and see with the help of the Holy Spirit aiding us if we can make sense of this parable.

The Manager’s Commissioning

“There was a certain rich man who had a steward.” Nothing sounds out of the ordinary up to this point in the story. This rich man’s affairs were so far reaching in commerce and agriculture that he hired or commissioned those about him to assist him in the management of the overall business affairs he was engaged in. In the case of this story he hired someone with a great deal of ability to be used as second in command to help him administrate his great estate.

Let’s assume this man was like many bible time people of the region. He was probably of Palestinian descent and let’s imagine that he had large vineyards where he grew olives, possibly grapes, and created a great deal of commerce from those crops. He not only sold grapes, but possibly produced the wine. Not only did he have olives and sell those olives, but he produced olive oil which was a staple of the region confirmed in this parable. Furthermore, we know from this story that he also grew grain, possibly other row crops. And, I imagine he was a man with much livestock whether livestock needed to work the farm or to sell as well. I can see oxen, sheep, chickens and the list goes on. This man had his fingers in a lot of pies as it related to business and it called for someone who got up early and stayed late and there was no way to keep up with out soliciting others to help.

So, he hired what the Bible terms a steward, or a household manager. The rich man had intrusted this individual to oversee his affairs. He had the responsibility of overseeing and managing the receipts and keep up with and curb the expenditures. This steward would have the responsibility of doling out to those he did business with and then collecting on what was sold at some future date. He was one that oversaw the labor, the supplies, the inventories, the monies, the one who was the time manager providing sufficient time to complete each job responsibility, both the outlay of resources and the intake of those resources to make it all work and to make a profit or increase the assets of his owner.

The parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 is the reminder to us that God has given to us each different talents, different gifts, different settings, but there is an expectation to make use of this life He has given us. You know the story, one given five talents, one two talents, and the other one talent. This reality reflects that we do not all have the same abilities or the same resources by which we work for the kingdom. As the story goes, the one with five and the one with two multiplied their resources and the master was happy. In this parable, we see a similarity, a certainty of an accounting.

Matthew 25:19 “19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.”

Let’s listen to the master’s response to the two that multiplied his resources:

Matthew 25:21 “21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”

As you know the one that was given one talent dug a hole and put it in the ground to hold until his master came back.

Matthew 25:24–30 “24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ 26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

There is a commonality among us as we consider the idea of managing this life for the Lord. Firstly,

Time

We all have the same amount of time. We have 24 hours every day, we all have 60 minutes an hour, and 60 seconds a minute. Let me say at the onset that it is not easy to fit in everything we must do. There is time we devote to our families, our spouse, our children, our grandchildren, there is time we must give to our home and maintaining our homes. There is time we give to our health and that is vitally important. There is time we give to the church and to our relationship with the Lord, time to “love our neighbor as ourselves” and invest in friendships.

It can be a daunting task.

Let’s deduce something at this point that if time is a constant, and the tasks that we must accomplish are variable, then we realize that we must prioritize the use of our time. Please write these verse down if you feel that in theory you want to make good use of your time, but like the steward called out today, like the prodigal spoken of last Sunday, like the servant in the parable of the talents that did not make good use of the talent the Lord gave over to him, here are some verses that may help.

Matthew 6:33 “33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Psalm 90:12 “12 So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Numbering our days teaches us to calendar in, plan to make the things of God to be the forefront of our lives.

The person that fails to plan, plans to fail. Calendar in prayer, calendar in Worship, calendar in times fo discipleship with another.

Ephesians 5:15–16 “15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

Dearly beloved, in being a good manager, we all have different task, we have different talents, we operate in different territories or assignments, but we all have the same time to serve the Lord and in serving the Lord, all the other will fall in place.

That statement is so generic and abstract. How does that reality come to past? If we love God more it will cause us to love our neighbors, our families, our friends, our bodies, more and thus we will prioritize those responsibilities in correct fashion.

The Manager’s Crisis

An accusation was brought to the rich man that his steward was waster or squandering his goods or resources. You have heard the statement:

“What goes around comes around, what you give is what you get, or every action has a reaction, or the idea that payback is coming.” The sowing principle teaches that we reap what we sow.

Someone, one of his customers or a disgruntled customer went to the boss and told him that he was not taking good care of the owners’ goods. We do not know if he had outright embezzled, we do not know if he was treating customers with the monies of the owners on expensive outings and spending the money as if it was his. All we know that the accusation stated that he was wasteful. He had not used good stewardship and it came to the attention of his boss.

“What is this I hear about you. Give an account of your stewardship, for you no longer can be a steward.”

Three principles as it relates to this one verse.

Advertisement. Our lives always advertise our condition. We think that our actions or antics are not visible, that we can hide our real condition.

Numbers 32:23 “23 But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out.”

Was this not the case when Nathan the Prophet confronted King David for his sin or committing adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah?

2 Samuel 12:7–9 “7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 9 Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.”

Ill. One of the greatest blessings of the pastorate is having those moments that the Holy Spirit precedes my visits with our church family or someone God has put in my path. Over the course of time what seems initially as a customary normal ministry visit can turn into a Holy Spirit touch of opening up as to the realities of how they are really doing. These times advertise where they really are and it expressed by their countenance, their despondency, their tears, or a laughter to a great place one find himself.

2. Audit

“give an account of your stewardship.” We know that word account is just that, an accounting term. We also call that an audit. The owner or master said, I want to audit your activity. There will be an accounting of the decisions and actions you have made with the resources I have bestowed to you. The parable of the talents as well reflected in:

Matthew 25:19“19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.”

Oh listen to me dear friend, this life we have been given has its checks and balances, we live a life that has both liabilities and assets, profits and loss.

The steward realized his future was at jeopardy. he knew that when he fell under an audit of his master that he would fail the audit. he knew that when he investigated his stewardship that there were areas he had failed miserably. He knew that his A/R were not collected, He knew that the A/P were too high, he knew that he would not bode well when being audited.

Ill. I have a friend from my past in Boy Scouts and High School that in reality is a pitiful situation. Where he sits right now is an audit of the choices he has made up to this point. He divorced many years ago but the Lord gave him a son in the process. I saw times he was vested in his son and I saw pictures of him being engaged in the life of his son on Face Book. Later in life, he advanced from the Insurance Claims area of the industry to going back to school and practicing law and being quite successful. Some events over the course of time took place and I have speculation as to what I think has happened, but he fell on poor health, lost his leg and is a paraplegic, his law license has been suspended and at this point, he is destitute and requesting assistance from friends on Face Book for assistance.

Now, listen closely, I know that God’s Word states that it rains on the just and the unjust. Furthermore, I realize that certain situation happen in our lives that are out of our control.

But here is what I do know that is true of you and true of me. Our present life is an audit of the choices we have made up to this point. Our standing today is due to the choices we have made up until this point.

Listen clearly, your life is audited right before your eyes. All through God’s Word we are told that our lives will incur an accounting.

Romans 14:12 “12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”

2 Corinthians 5:10 “10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Note we will not go before the great white throne of Judgment spelled out in the Revelation because Jesus erased our sins, past, present, and future for those here that have accepted Christ. But, each one of us will go before Christ giving an accounting of those things we have did for Him here on earth.

I have heard this definition of management and I like it:

Management is the multiplication of yourself through others. If we understand that our lives are to be that manager or steward of the life given us in Christ Jesus. And, we understand that we are to multiply the tenets, the values, the mission of our Lord and Savior in the lives of others about us, I simply ask, how are you faring?

See, your life is an audit and advertises the life you have lived up to this point. If you are like me, outside of the Lord, no one knows me better than me. I know my good points and my failing points, I know my strengths and my weaknesses. I know those things I have done well and those things I have miserably failed. I know my goodness and I definitely know my sin. I know my sin well.

I want to ask you again. How would you pass an audit right now? Let’s assume the Lord is speaking to you at this moment and this message has struck a cord. You know in your heart of hearts that you are not living a life pleasing in the Lord’s sight. You know this message today was for you and you simply know your heart is not right.

I pray that you will be like this steward who became very clever when he realized his future was at stake.

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The Manager’s Cleverness

Luke 16:3–7 “3 “Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’ 5 “So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’”

The steward knew that he would not pass the audit and so he begins to take measures to secure his future. He was highly shrewd and clever at this point. Notice closely in verse 8 that the master “commended the unjust steward.”

This is what makes this parable so confusing and misinterpreted. The master did not commend his unjust behavior. He commended his shrewd behavior in securing his future.

The steward knew his time was limited and he was not able to do manual labor or to face the embarrassment of begging at this stage of life. So, he responded quickly by contacting all the customers and we see two customers’ interaction recorded in the parable. He contacted one who owed 100 measures of oil and said if you will pay today I will discount the ticket at 50 cents on the dollar. The other customer owed for 100 measures of wheat and he discounted his bill if immediate payment was made to eighty cents on the dollar.

What is the moral to this clever action on the part of the steward? Christ is not placing the emphasis on the morality of his unjust actions. Jesus is placing the emphasis that this steward’s future was at stake and he became very creative and passionate about taking actions in his time here on earth to secure his future.

The Master’s Commendations

And so the master said,

Luke 16:8 “8 So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.”

Can I give you an illustration that explains what Jesus is saying here.

Let’s recant something that happened at this church 3 or 4 years ago. Some of our men walk around to the back of the church and we are staring at dismay at the broken into cages where all of our new air conditioners sit and all of us are staring into space and everyone of us are thinking the same thing as we see the $15,000 plus dollars of A/C units destroyed to steal the copper that wasn’t $200 worth. Finally one speaks up and says what everyone of us are thinking as we stare at this mess.

“What kind of money could that person have earned for the effort they made for wrong in doing some trade or work or effort that was righteous in their actions?”

This is what the Master was thinking and that is what He is thinking about you and me. Oh what you could accomplish for him if you took the passion, the urgency, the creativity, the vision that you have for the things of this world and you transfer it to Him. Oh, the Lord says, what could I do with a life like yours that is passionate about the things of this world, if only you were that passionate for Me and what I have to offer you.

Oh dear brother, whether you know it or not, you do not own your life, you are a steward of a life given you. Everyone of us are commissioned of God to manage this life for His glory. If you have not discovered that, its not if, its when, you will face crisis of living a life not considering the Master. If the Holy Spirit has struck a chord this morning and you sense you need a change, be clever, be shrewd and make aggressive changes right now. Call on the Lord and today He can change your life for all eternity.

Let’s pray.